Lowell Observatory Colloquia

Latest Results from HOPS, the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey

Will Fischer, University of Toledo

Lowell Observatory, Giclas Lecture Hall, Sept. 4, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.

The Orion molecular clouds, home to about half the young stellar objects in the nearest 500 parsecs, showcase star formation in a range of environments, from clustered to isolated. HOPS, the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey, is a 200 hour key program of the Herschel Space Observatory and the cornerstone of our larger multi-observatory campaign to study star formation in Orion. With observations from Hubble, Spitzer, WISE, APEX, the IRTF, and other facilities, we have obtained images and spectra of over 300 Orion protostars from 1 to 870 microns. With Herschel having recently run out of cryogen, I present a summary of HOPS results so far. We have modeled the SED of a unique protostellar FU Ori object both before and after its outburst, the first optical image of which was acquired with the DCT in February. We have discovered protostars undetected by Spitzer that appear to be the youngest in Orion. We have identified variations in the spacing and luminosity of protostars between the different environments found in Orion, and we are determining the fundamental properties of the protostars by comparing their SEDs to a home-brewed grid of radiative transfer models. HOPS is the most extensive multiwavelength survey of a single star-forming complex to date.